Student volunteering week aims to celebrate the positive impact of student volunteers and engage with the students who do not currently volunteer, to actively encourage them to give volunteering a try.
Student volunteering in the UK has come from a long history line. Previously, there was a lack of formal citizenship education in colleges and universities. This led to students forming a range of voluntary groups to serve the local communities and help the students learn about social issues.
Today the contributions that student volunteers give to local communities is greater than it ever has been before.
A popular part in student culture, particularly in England and Scotland, was to raise money for local hospitals through what they used to call Rag Collections. University Rag societies were student-run charitable fundraising organisations. Early Rag Collectors were said to have ragged passers-by until they made a charitable donation; we advise you don’t do this now… While in the Victorian era students would take time out of there studies to clothe those in need.
The 1930s
Students tackled the problems of high unemployment head-on, by setting up camps for men and women who were unemployed. These camps were aimed towards getting people back in employment. Assuring that those who were unemployed were fit and had the correct mindset for a working environment.
The 1940s
At the very height of the Blitz, students volunteered in the air raid and rest centres. Students believed it was crucial to play a part in their societies and provide help by all means possible.
The 1950s
Students began campaigning and fundraising for nuclear disarmament, Oxfam and the anti-apartheid movement. With a real sense of pride and direction to make a difference to the world, they were living in!
The 1960s
Students and graduates seized the opportunity to serve in developing countries. A few years later volunteering groups began to drift from traditional fundraising to more effective involvement with community issues, by getting more hands-on in communities and political issues affecting communities.
One other very important development of post-war was the formation of student social service groups and associations in many universities. Including London, Manchester and Birmingham to name a few. These social groups involved a small number of volunteers which would undergo activities such as. Gardening, decorating, hospital visiting, working with older people and children, the mentally ill. As well as, supporting charities like Shelter and Amnesty International.
The 1970s-1990s
By the 1970s there was a gradual shift from service to community action groups, which swept across many universities and colleges across the UK. Many student action groups transformed into registered charities with employed workers. What these groups did ranged from volunteering to service orientated work, like decorating, teaching immigrants and mental health projects.
In Short
The history of student volunteering is very much relevant to the student volunteers of today. Campaigning and fundraising have been essential to the student experience over the last century. And still, thousands of peoples lives have been and are being transformed by the campaigning and fundraising conducted by student volunteers.
Only students of today can decide how the movement will continue to grow over the next century.
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Student volunteering is increasing with popularity, with more and more students across the UK beginning to volunteer. 57% of students indicated they have volunteered to some extent – and rightly so. Students who volunteered described themselves as being driven, reliable and easy-going, which are all positive attributes to have. However, the other 43% of the students who didn’t volunteer would be more inclined if they didn’t have barriers in their way. Barriers included paid work commitments, the pressure to studying or other curriculum activities.
But could you set these barriers aside by knowing what volunteering could do for you?
Make a change
The reason for any volunteering is to make an improvement to something or give someone else or a group of people additional support. So why not make a small change to your university schedule to make an even bigger change to someone else?
Broaden your horizon
Are you new to the city and the local surrounding areas? Well, volunteering provides the opportunity for you to explore your local area and get out and see places you will have never seen before. When settled in at university, it can become quite easy to get wrapped up in your own smaller surrounding. The local tavern, the students union, and your living accommodation. Making it very easy for you to forget that other people and places exist outside of your university bubble.
Make use of your spare time
Everyone needs downtime but how productive are your downtimes? Most of us have more than enough free time, we just spend it badly! On average a student has about six hours free time a day, depending on your course, which is an awful lot of time. The problem is we’re not thoughtful enough of what we do in our free time. Making more active and intentional use of our hours would make them count for more. Perhaps volunteering could help you fill one or two hours, out of the six you have free.
Boost your mental well-bing
The giant leap from college to university can prove mentally challenging for the many. The anxieties of being in a new city or country with not knowing anyone or knowing what to expect can be very daunting. Volunteering can help with these anxieties and place you in a better headspace.
The feeling of knowing you’re doing something valuable to release the burden from others doesn’t only show that you care. But should also make you feel pretty good about yourself too! Positive actions make a sound mind.
Raise your online presence
If you’re a student you should be very aware of how important online presence is. Online is now everything in these modern times. Volunteering can help develop your online presence hugely, I would highly recommend building your online presence as soon as possible! LinkedIn is the perfect platform to do this and by volunteering your connections online will only grow.
Remember don’t be shy to share your experiences with the outside world. Transparency is the key to employability, by showing off how amazing you are. You don’t always need to be modest.
TeamKinetic Volunteer Management System
Read more student and university-related blogs below.
Before I arrived at university, I had no idea just how much effort it takes to keep a university team running smoothly. From taking care of players’ wellbeing to ensuring the club is financially stable. It’s clear to see how much effort these students put into the clubs they’re a part of.
To keep playing their favourite sports, a select group of students from each sports team have to step up and take on a vital senior role within the club. I’d like to take a look at one club in particular.
The Manchester Metropolitan University Women’s Football team have been my favourite group of people since I started university. Now I’m on placement, I thought it’d be great to bring attention to the work they do day in, day out.
From managing club funds to organising social events, every member of a sports team’s committee is important.
One of our many nights out… Guess the theme?
The MMUWFC 1st Team
But first… What does it mean to take on one of these roles?
The different roles that students on the team can volunteer for include: – Social Secretary: ensure that the club has plenty of social activities that appeal to all members and allow everyone to get to know each other in a welcoming and friendly environment. – Treasurer: oversees financial aspects of the club. They will work with other members of the committee to plan which events and activities the club can afford to carry out. – Publicity Secretary: ensure that the club has a strong social media presence and content to keep current members engaged and attract new members. – Vice Chair/Chair: the chair is responsible for overseeing the committee and club activity/direction. They provide support and guidance to other committee and club members. The vice chair will assist them in all matters (see our interview with Charley below for more).
These roles may vary between teams/universities but are vital to keep the clubs running smoothly. Taking on one of these roles requires some work. Despite this, it can make for a great addition to any CV and the skills you learn along the way are invaluable!
I spoke to Charley Parkin, the Vice Chair of MMU Women’s Football and Captain of the 1st Team…
What kind of work do you do for the MMU Women’s Football Team?
“I mainly just oversee things on the admin side and help Crystal (The Chair) with anything she needs. Basically making sure things go smoothly. As first team captain I have to organise teams, transport to fixtures, etc. and make sure everyone is having a good time.”
Why did you want to volunteer to be on the committee?
“I wanted to volunteer to be on the committee because I did it last year as Social Sec and really enjoyed it. Plus, having been at uni three years I feel like I am in a good position to help and advise first years with any issues they have and almost act as a role model.”
Do you enjoy your role?
“I enjoy being involved with decisions made about the club and the fact we can influence things for the better and make not just people’s women’s football experience but university experience better as a whole.”
So how do I get involved?
MMU Women’s Football isn’t the only team out there that relies on volunteers! Chances are every sports club at any given university does. This may seem like hard work for anyone who takes up one of these senior roles, but the rewards are great. You’ll have leadership experience and a range of skills that you can’t find anywhere else – who wouldn’t want that on their CV?!
There are a few different ways you can get involved:
Check your university’s volunteering page,
Get in contact with your student union,
Just go and talk to the current chair of the club you want to volunteer for!
Tip: It’s usually best to go for these roles after the current sporting season has finished and before the next one starts.
By now, students will be settled into their year at university. Whether you’re in your first or final year, you’ll have already completed seemingly endless amounts of assignments. Now, of course, university isn’t for everyone. However, as someone who has spent two years at university (so far), I can say that it is hard. It’s hard to balance all these new aspects of your life – self-motivated study, meeting new people, house-hunting, food shopping, finding a club that your random mix of mates can all enjoy, cooking, and actually finding the time and summoning the effort to clean your house. Despite this, I’m about to tell you to add volunteering to the mix.
Now, I’m not going to pretend like the majority of students don’t see volunteering as a CV booster. But these same students then realise that volunteering can offer so much more than a bullet point on a piece of paper. It can offer you essential life skills that you can’t develop anywhere else. The issue is that these benefits aren’t often highlighted by universities. As a result, students may not be getting into volunteering in the first place.
The Benefits of Student Volunteering
Meeting new people
Whether you’ve been at uni for a few years already or you’ve just started this year, it’s never a bad time to meet new people. These people could become your friends, best friends, or even future partners. Even if you never talk to them again at least you’ve met someone you can give an awkward wave to when you pass them in public.
Aside from gaining some mates, volunteering could also be a good opportunity for networking. Sounds strange but you never know who you might meet through volunteer work. Also, in a recent catch-up with El Afzal, she noted that people have contacted her through LinkedIn about her vast volunteer work and offered her potential future work.
Giving back to the community
Let’s face it – the vast majority of us have had a few embarrassing nights as a result of the student lifestyle. What better way to say sorry to our local community for all the drunken shouting and traffic cone theft (yes, it’s a big thing) than to volunteer for a local cause. Whether it’s the classic charity shop work or a local park clean-up, you can give back to the community you’ll be calling home for the next few years.
Relieving all that student stress
I don’t mean to scare any prospective students, but university is stressful. It’s all fun and games during fresher’s week but suddenly you’ve been there for two months and are already drowning in assignments and lecture notes you should have somehow organised. Volunteering can be a great way to distance yourself from all the hustle and bustle of university life for a couple of hours a week (or more!) You may be wondering how you’ll fit volunteering into such a busy schedule, but you’re lying if you say you don’t procrastinate for at least a couple hours a day – whether you’re scrolling through social media or binge-watching that new TV show.
Also, research shows that if you volunteer during your student years, you’re likely to continue throughout your life. Wouldn’t it be nice to live a life full of voluntary work? I think it would.
How can TeamKinetic help?
Are you a student looking to get into volunteering? Check with your university’s student union or sports department for any active opportunities. You could also give this blog by The Student Room a read – it includes some helpful information about student volunteering!
Perhaps you work for a university wanting to commit more to student volunteering? This blog might be better for you! Find out how TeamKinetic can work with you to recruit, manage, and retain your student volunteers byvisiting our website or calling us on 0161 914 5757.
Whether you’re student or staff, you can find us on social media: Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, and YouTube. We share and create content suitable for anyone interested in volunteering!
You can also read our other blogs on student volunteering here and here.
In 2016, more than 725,000 students volunteered. This may seem like a big number, but it was actually only around 31% of the total student population. We think it can be much higher. The benefits of volunteering are massive. From improving students’ confidence to making a difference in the local community, volunteering can be a valuable activity for any organisation to place emphasis on. As a result, we believe that every university should have volunteer management software.
There are many different types of volunteering for your students to get involved with. Popular uses of volunteer management software for universities often relate to careers, student placement services, the student union, and sport. Sport is a popular area here at TeamKinetic; Cardiff Metropolitan, Nottingham, and Manchester Metropolitan are just some of the many academic institutions already using our system for their student volunteers.
Why not take a look at one of those websites to get a better idea of how our systems work?
It appears that people are getting involved in volunteering from a younger age. 70% of 18–24-year-olds reported volunteering at some point. This age range probably accounts for the vast majority of university students, so why not support them by giving them a better system to volunteer through? Why not take the plunge and get volunteer management software?
(Figures from NCVO’s Time Well Spent report, you can view the report here.)
So… why should you use volunteer management software?
With UK plans to double the percentage of students who study, work or volunteer as part of their degree by 2020, investing in a good volunteer management system now would be beneficial to any university.
Universities making an appropriate investment in high quality provision of student volunteering, they not only support students and their communities, but they can derive benefits aligned with their strategic plan and improve the value added to students beyond their studies.
Volunteer management software has a range of features that you can put to good use!
Any good volunteer management system will save you massive amounts of time. Especially in terms of registering volunteers and making them aware of volunteering opportunities. While also reducing the need for paper-based documents which can make your offices cluttered and disorganised.
Easily creating reports and collecting data on your volunteers is another benefit of volunteer management software. You should have the ability to see how many volunteers are registered to your system, how many opportunities have been advertised, how many hours have been logged, and more. This will also save you bags of time and make data collection more fun than ever! (Might have gone a bit too far with that one… Let’s just say it will make data collection less tedious!)
One increasingly essential aspect of volunteer management is the communication between providers (the university) and volunteers (your students). With volunteer management software, you can easily reach out to your volunteers about, well, anything really. Volunteers can even chat amongst themselves on some systems. This is especially helpful if they’re nervous about volunteering alone or for the first time – something that can be common among students.
While volunteer management software can really help your university, it can also be of substantial benefit to your students. As a student myself, I know I’d much rather sign up to a volunteering system and instantly see all active opportunities than drop someone an email and wait for them to get back to me.
How TeamKinetic can help
As a Manchester-based company, we’re quite pleased about the number of hours logged by our local universities in the North West! Grafters.
We already work with a range of universities across the UK. Our software isn’t all about how many hours have been logged. Yet it’s still nice to take a step back and appreciate all the hours of hard work put in by students over the years! See how many hours have been logged by region to the right… Perhaps your university could help add to these hours!
Specifically, our system has features that will make your life as a volunteer manager easier, while encouraging your students to sign up to volunteer.
Through volunteer grouping, you could sort volunteers by sports club, society, or degree type. This can allow you to invite students to volunteer for things you know they’ll be interested in.
Our reports can help you collate data around: gender, ethnicity, group, as well as the type of opportunities your students are getting involved with most. We can also offer custom reporting services to help you get the most out of our software.
Our achievement levels sort volunteers by how many hours they’ve completed. This can be used by you to offer your students bespoke rewards based on their time spent volunteering. It’s always nice to give back to volunteers, and it keeps them coming back!
Don’t just take our word for it – hear from people who have used the software!
Previous MMU Volunteer Coordinator – Emily Roche
How has the TeamKinetic software helped you manage your volunteers?
“Team Kinetic software has given our volunteering team the ability to oversee the diverse range of volunteering we have going on at the University. We can also now create a Reward and Recognition scheme which covers all of these roles by tracking the number of hours across these voluntary roles.”
What specific features of the TeamKinetic system do you find most useful?
“The most useful feature of Team Kinetic is the fact that it links to other networks in Manchester. This means that students can get involved with a variety of opportunities without us having to go out and search for the right contact for them. We can then also keep track of where this is happening, what students are interested in doing, and contact these organisations ourselves.”
A study by the National Coordinating Centre for Public Engagementfound that many students volunteer at festivals to gain skills and/or develop their career prospects. However, a ‘substantial’ selection of universities don’t work with festival organisers to advertise these roles to students. As a result, this should be a key focus for universities to expand their engagement activities for the benefit of their students and the general public.
“I’ve always loved helping people. I’ve been volunteering from a young age back home and received a few awards from it. So I wanted to continue that during my studies. It’s a humbling and rewarding feeling when you volunteer and help others.”
What did you get out of volunteering?
“Besides the benefits of receiving MMU Sport colours and tiered rewards for logging hours, I was able to receive great references for my new job while enhancing my character and views of people.”
Would you recommend volunteering to new/current students? And why?
“Yes definitely! Even if it’s like an hour a week that could help change someone or a charity or a group. There are events that are one time things that are great if you can’t commit to a fixed schedule. You get to meet new people and even sometimes potential companies, depending on your degree and where you volunteer. It’s also a great opportunity to put down on your CV for the future as well.”
Why not give your students the same benefits that MMU and their students, such as Sophia, receive while volunteering at university?
Still need convincing?
Read our other blogs on how we’ve helped universities with their volunteering systems below:
For Universities across the UK, helping students develop an understanding of positive social action through volunteering is seen as a vital part of the student experience. Many universities are trying to find new ways to engage student volunteers and offer them an exciting variety of opportunities that appeal to an ever more diverse group.
Find out how TeamKinetic is fast becoming the fastest-growing volunteer software choice for universities in the UK and how it has helped manage large numbers of volunteers with simplicity and through technical innovation.
Volunteers walking
Students in numbers
When given the opportunity students can make a big difference and more importantly, want to make a difference to their university and the wider community. The benefits of volunteering for students are multi-faceted; opening doors to students via experience and improved networks, as well as being good for mental health and wellbeing.
Universities should be harnessing this potential and developing good volunteer programs. Higher education institutes are perfectly placed to take advantage of the thousands of new students that enrol each year.
There is still so much untapped potential for universities, students and the cities and towns they live in.
TeamKinetic’s volunteer software encourages volunteer managers to create high-quality opportunities that through social media and effective search technology, student volunteers can find, join, enjoy and get recognition for their efforts.
The figures above demonstrate the need for a volunteer management solution that is scalable. Managing a volunteer program IS achievable without volunteer software, however, using one can prove to be the difference between GOOD and GREAT.
Turning students into volunteers
Having a large number of students on campus does not equate to large numbers of engaged volunteers. Understanding your audience and developing a volunteer program that is suitable for them is key for engaging and retaining student volunteers.
So how do you turn students into volunteers?
You don’t have to reinvent the wheel. Understand what is already happening around universities and its surrounding areas. This knowledge can be gained from talking to your students, the students union, the athletics union, the local authority or local volunteer centre’s or other 3rd sector partners.
Everyone needs some encouragement. Providing positive support and supervision makes your student volunteers feel appreciated. Sometimes people just need help to get started!
People who sense they are making a difference and that think they contributing to something important tend to be much more motivated. Supporting volunteers takes time and resource, so it is critical to never underestimate this and provide them with the correct resources (induction policy, expenses policy, risk management etc).
Create clear roles and descriptions of opportunities. This makes it easier for students volunteers to identify opportunities that are best suited for them. Students often have secondary motivations as to why they volunteer, good role descriptions that take this into account help volunteers make informed decisions.
When recruiting student volunteers, it is essential to be fair and transparent. They are not employees or lackies, they want to help but not taken advantage of. We all like a surprise, but the good kind! Avoid setting volunteers any tasks that you’re not willing to do.
Empowering students to make a positive impact on their community can change lives. Many students run regular events or campaigns, raising awareness of charities and causes. Learning through real experience is invaluable.
Volunteering doesn’t always mean litter picking or bag packing. Some universities provide opportunities that are in the same field of work as students studies, giving them practical experience and developing a professional network.
Student volunteers can provide a different perspective to a member of staff. Student volunteers can bring different ideas to providers organisations and often bring a great energy and enthusiasm as well.
University provides many young people with the first opportunity to get involved in the things that matter to them. University provides a level of free time people tend not have at other times of their lives. This means voluntary organisations can benefit from a really high-level of commitment to their cause.
How TeamKinetic is helping universities
Universities have the potential for thousands of volunteers, and that can make it difficult to track and manage them all at the same time.
Often, in any one university, there are multiple programs that encompass an element of volunteering. Getting a joined up picture of volunteering, However, can be difficult.
TeamKinetic’s volunteer software allows managers to carry out key tasks through its simple interface. Onboarding, brokering, quality assurance and safeguarding are all builtin. The volunteer system can be personalised to match every universities brand colours, including a tailored web address. This allows for the website to be easily identifiable to students who are looking for volunteering opportunities.
Our POD system allows individual university departments to have their own opportunities and processes, but in one combined system so you can get data and better insight into all their volunteers.
The system is designed to make the experience easy for the volunteer, opportunity provider and admin user.
Volunteers can :
Create their own volunteer profiles
Join opportunities they are interested in
Join opportunity group chats to keep up-to-date on any news
Log their own volunteer hours upon completing an opportunity
Leave feedback, but also receive feedback from the opportunity provider
Work towards rewards and incentives which can aid in personal development
Volunteer providers can :
Monitor applicants
Leave and receive feedback to volunteers
Send out texts and emails to volunteers by a simple click of a button
Map volunteer locations to create opportunities in the most populated student volunteer areas
Review reports on progress in order to keep improving the opportunities on offer to students
Reward and set incentives for volunteers to help them achieve goals. (We have some exceptional examples of TeamKinetic customers that use the reward and incentives really well, which will be discussed later on in this article.)
What these features allow, is for the volunteer manager to focus their time on developing the volunteer program and generating more opportunities for students to take part in. Less time is spent on micromanaging and completing tedious tasks.
If this wasn’t enough, TeamKinetic volunteer system allows universities to link with external TeamKinetic applications, to provide opportunities. This allows charities, sports clubs and local authorities to become opportunity providers on the university system, further increasing students ability to take part in volunteering.
Students using the TeamKinetic volunteer software
TeamKinetic got the chance to speak to Daniel Roberts one of Manchester Metropolitan University students. We got to find out about his experience of being a volunteer on the universities volunteer software and how it has impacted him. Here is what he had to say.
” The university using a volunteer management system really encourages more students to get into volunteering. I wouldn’t have found opportunities or been able to receive feedback without the system. I think the volunteer software is the main reason I completed so many hours, and it makes it so much easier to continue volunteering.
Having a volunteer profile has been key to letting me track my progress and it has given me a chance to evaluate my experiences by looking at the hours I’ve logged and the opportunities that I’ve done. This has been good for CV writing and reflecting on in interviews.
The best thing about the Teamkinetic system for me is that you create your own profile and search for opportunities through the search bar. I could pick out events here and there, and plan my time around it.”
Hear from some of our customers that provide outstanding opportunities for their students
TeamKinetic work with a number of universities across the UK to provide them with their own bespoke and customised website for volunteers. Here are some of the universities that have been using the volunteer software to its potential and creating outstanding opportunities for students.
Manchester Metropolitan University has accumulated over 50,000 hours and counting since using the TeamKineitc volunteer software. This just goes to show the amount of hard work and giving back to the community that goes on within the institute. Additionally, there are 1592 registered volunteers and counting volunteering across the city in a number of diverse roles. MMU offers students a fantastic reward and recognition scheme using the system; 25 hours (Bronze) gains a volunteer T-shirt all the way up to 200 hours (platinum) Access to £100 training bursary, Linkedin and CV endorsements
The University of East London provides students with a variety of opportunities across the city, with 702 registered students on the system and 139 opportunities. Notably, UEL provides many opportunities outside of the university such as Dementia Advisor volunteer roles and Community Centre receptionists. Which is fantastic for getting students out into the community and making an impact through social action. The university also recognises volunteers for their hard work by offering a rewards and recognition scheme. Understanding the motivations of your volunteers is an essential part of incentivising the volunteer experience and making each individual feel valued within the university.
The IVR results showed that developing skills (88%) and gaining work experience (83%) were motivating factors for students that engaged in volunteering. The results also highlighted that 51% of recent graduates under the age of 30 in paid work found that volunteering helped them secure employment.
Additional research found that volunteering developed community awareness and allowed them to integrate into the local community outside the university. 39% of non-volunteers said they would be more determined to get involved in volunteering if it was linked to their academic subject. Creating more one-off opportunities is a good way of getting people into volunteering and allowing them to experience the benefits of it. The impact of volunteering on students is significant and can change an individuals perception of things they normally wouldn’t consider on a day-to-day
TeamKinetic helps to build better volunteer communities by providing great tools for volunteer managers that save time, increase impact and improve insight. Our goal is to make volunteering easy for everyone no matter what. But don’t take our word for it, why not check out our customer reviews.
For more information please don’t hesitate to get in touch and find out how we can help you achieve your goals.
You can find TeamKinetic on social media and listen to our podcast:
Kathryn Edwards is NCVO’s volunteering development team assistant. She assists with projects supporting NCVO’s work on volunteer management and good practice and plays a key role in helping to organise Volunteers Week. Kathryn also supports the Investing in Volunteers Quality Standard, working with organisations attaining the standard.
This week we celebrate Student Volunteering Week. This is a great time to recognise their significant contribution to the wider community, and to pay special attention to them as an invaluable source of time, talent, skills and creativity.
Having proudly volunteered and worked within a student volunteering charity, I’ve seen the extent of the role that student volunteers play throughout a city’s volunteering infrastructure. There were many essential roles fulfilled by diverse and energetic student volunteers, mostly benefiting people outside of their university. Research by IVR shows that 95% of student volunteers are motivated by a desire to improve things or help people, ranking higher than developing skills (88%) and gaining work experience (83%).
My top tips for involving student volunteers in your organisation.
1. Getting the opportunities right
Student volunteers have differing requirements, whether that is time commitments, varying skills or interests. Providing a broad range of opportunities will help you to recruit and retain them.
Be aware of their academic timetable and provide opportunities outside of the normal working day.
An NUS report states that the main barrier for students who do not currently volunteer was not having enough time; students said they would like to see more one-off opportunities to encourage them to volunteer. Student Volunteering Week is a perfect time to run one-off ormicro volunteering to give potential volunteers a quick snap shot of volunteering with your organisation and could potentially lead to students volunteering on a regular basis.
2. Create opportunities that develop skills
Think about what skills and experience the volunteer will need and gain from particular opportunities and include this within the volunteer role descriptions.
Even though a large majority of student volunteers are motivated by the desire to make a difference, developing their skills and getting work experience in meaningful roles is key to attracting student volunteers.
Opportunities that have skills which link with their academic course may seem more appealing to potential volunteers. The NUS report states that 40% of students said that education institutions linking volunteering opportunities to their course or academic qualification would encourage them to do more volunteering.
3. Provide clear and accurate role descriptions
Volunteer role descriptions must provide an accurate idea of the work the volunteer will be doing to avoid any misunderstanding. It should identify why the role is needed and the benefits to both the volunteer and the organisation as identified in the Investing in Volunteers standard.
Think about how you might adapt a role to meet the volunteer’s skills and requirements. Being able to provide materials in alternative formats, for example, audio and easy to read versions, can be extremely useful when trying to engage a diverse range of volunteers – which leads me on to…
4. Engage a diverse range of student volunteers
Think carefully about where you promote your volunteering opportunities. Is there a volunteering hub within the university/union to promote your opportunity? If not, try and build relationships with the Student Union and departments within the university to engage a diverse audience. Look at promoting in shops, cafes, libraries, magazines and newspapers that students regularly use and read. Think about the different groups and activities they might be involved in.
You could also work with existing student volunteers to spread the word. Ambassadors can provide real examples of their volunteering experiences and can help to produce creative recruitment messages that appeals to that audience. Using social media can help to share these messages through stories, photos and videos, and are a powerful way to inspire, engage and sustain student’s social action.
NUS research shows almost half of all students found out about volunteering opportunities through friends and family, with their place of study the second most common source of finding out about volunteering opportunities.
5. Support your student volunteers
Support and consistent communication is key to retaining volunteers. Volunteers should be provided with:
a point of contact
the opportunity to attend regular supervisions
group meetings.
This also provides an opportunity to regularly recognise the contribution they have made.
In order to retain volunteers, they must feel valued and supported. The quality of support and communication they receive can determine how effective they will be as a volunteer.
Work with volunteers to clarify their interests and what they would like to gain from volunteering – this will help you to offer them the right kind of role and opportunities to develop.
